Red Bull didn't make it easy for Perez: 'He would have won more comfortably then'

According to Jolyon Palmer, Red Bull Racing took a huge gamble after Max Verstappen's crash in the closing stages of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Jonathan Wheatley came up with the idea of bringing in a red flag so that each driver could change tyres.

According to Palmer, this could have cost Sergio Perez a sure victory. "It was an interesting decision from Red Bull to speak to FIA Race Director Michael Masi about red-flagging the race, particularly as their man Sergio Perez would have won more comfortably otherwise," Palmer writes in his column for F1.com.

According to Palmer, Verstappen's car would never have been cleared in time, so the race could never have been restarted. "And under Safety Car conditions it is quite unlikely that any more drivers would suffer blowouts."

"Whether it was Red Bull’s radio call to Masi that influenced his decision or not, it meant that Perez had a lot more work to do, to win a race that he had in the bag, as a red flag meant a full standing restart," Palmer concluded.

Perez had a scare during the restart of the race in Baku. Lewis Hamilton had a much better start but shot straight in the first corner. Perez then controlled the final laps to win his first race for Red Bull.